If it is a difficult order – something new, or that you are unsure about – make sure it is the first thing you do in the day whilst your mind is fresh and clear, so you can concentrate properly.
If you are only there for a day, sit down, have a coffee and go through everything carefully before placing the orders. A’s candles may be cheaper than B’s but you can buy more efficiently from C, who will supply both candles and wind chimes.
As you walk round, make notes of suppliers you have missed, those you need to go back to and those you have actually placed orders with. Over the following weeks and months check off what you receive against the orders you placed and chase those that are slow in arriving. It is amazing how many suppliers spend thousands of pounds on an exhibition stand but fail to send out the orders they take.
